


Lose-Lose

by genericfanatic



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Child Abuse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 12:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18010559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genericfanatic/pseuds/genericfanatic
Summary: Teenager Marcus is excited to enter into drag racing competitions for the first time, but is in no way prepared for his very strange competition.AKA Knockout gets a human friend.





	Lose-Lose

**Author's Note:**

> My friend had me watch all of Transformers Prime and Promised to read a fic for it if I wrote one. 
> 
> The timeline is vaguely ambiguous, but is sometime near the end of the series.

The smell of gasoline was thick in the air despite the open desert. Marcus closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of engines revving up, the chatter as drivers all got ready. He took his rag and wiped his car for the 1000th time. He knew it was about to be covered in dirt, but he wanted it as shiny as it could be before the race started. 

“Hey, Marcus,” a guy from his school (Devin? Dylan? He thought it was Devin) “You finally got that thing working?”

“Yeah,” Marcus said, leaning casually on the trunk, “This is my Baby Blue.” He patted the metal, listening to that vibration. He’d made her from the ground up, just got the paint all finished last weekend, in time for this very race. He was going to get that prize money. No other driver here was as in tune with their vehicles as he was, he was sure of it.

“She’s a beauty,” Devin said, “You sure you want to sacrifice her out her so soon?”

“Ain’t no sacrifice man,” He said, “This baby’s ready to fly.”

Devin chuckled, most likely disbelieving, but that was fine. He’d win that fight on the road. He looked around at the competitors. “Who’s that guy?” He said, nodding at the one car that had rolled up. The driver didn’t come out. 

“Oh, damn,” Devin said, turning, “That’s Knockout. Or, that’s the only name he gives, anyway. Guy never leaves his car, just has them put his winnings on his front seat. No one’s ever even SEEN him.”

Marcus scoffed, “Pretentious,” he said, rolling his eyes. 

“Line up!” The coordinator said, “Everyone on the starting line.”

Marcus slid over his trunk to get to the drivers side door and pulled up. Knockout pulled up beside him. He tried to get a look through the windows at whoever was driving it, but he had black out windows.

The starting pistol went off, and Marcus jammed on the pedal, listening to the amazing rev of his engine, of tire against dirt, and ready to take off through the open desert...

...only to hear the screech of metal as something rammed into him, knocking a giant dent right into the engine. His airbags went off, holding him trapped against his backseat.

No one came to help him, and so he waited until they’d deflated enough to allow Marcus out, examining the damage. His whole front passenger side had been smushed like it was pinched, ruining countless engine parts and the frame itself. How the HELL had Knockout managed to do that with just one hit, and then drove away just fine? 

Marcus couldn’t even get the scrap to start up again. All that hard work...he could physically feel all the money he’d spent, every cent he could muster, squandered in half a second. He considered just going home, taking a long walk until he could call someone to pick him up. His step-dad was going to be PISSED.

No. No, he wasn’t about to leave just yet. He was going to confront this...this...Knockout. He was going to DRAG him out of the car if that’s what it took. And he was going to make this guy pay.

He sat on the hood of his car, waiting for the cars to come back around

At first, he only saw a glint on the horizon as the first car came through, leading the pack towards the finish line. He knew exactly which one it was. 

Knockout cleared all the way through in first place, the nearest car more than 5 carlengths back. He turned up a cloud of dust as the car spun to a halt, the onlookers cheering. “And here we have, the still undefeated champion, Knockout!” 

The crowd was a mix of cheers and boos, many rooting for an underdog or one of their friends. No one seemed close to the driver themself, from what Marcus could tell. 

He jumped off his hood and marched towards the victor, each step getting faster until he was nearly running at him. 

“On the passenger seat, same as always,” The driver was saying to the race coordinator, only dropping the window a fraction to allow him to slip in the money.

“What the hell was that?!” Marcus said, slamming on the driver side window, “What the hell, you can’t just swing at another car like that!” 

There was no way to read a facial expression through the blackout windows, but it still sounded like the driver was smirking, “Looks like I DID, though. No rules except to get across the finish line first, little horsepower. If you don’t have the engine, don’t get in the race.”

“You could have KILLED me!” Marcus yelled, his voice breaking, “Get out of the car and fight me like a man!”

The driver just laughed at him, “I don’t think so, kid. Run home to your playset or whatever you soft little younglings do.”

What kind of a weird insult was that?! Marcus banged on the window more. “Face me you coward!”

“Watch the finish, kid.” The car revved, up, and that was all his warning before the car took off, back into the desert. “Ciao!”

“COWARD!” Marcus yelled, “COME BACK HERE! COWARD!”

 

Everyone else was long gone, but Marcus wasn’t ready to go home yet. On foot, he followed Knockout’s tracks, until he was far from civilization.

“Come on, Scream,” He heard a voice say, “Just open the bridge already.”

He turned the corner….and then instantly went back around the corner and pressed himself up against some rocks. Was that--did he just see--what the FUCK?! 

Slowly, he peeked around the corner to confirm. Pacing in the desert valley was a giant ROBOT, Red and Silver, and covered in metal gears, holding the bag of winnings from the race. “It’s just money. The humans use it for buying stuff. Look, I know it’s weird, but it’s my trophy, starscream! Can’t you just let me have--oh. Megatron--he said what?”

The robot groaned, and dropped the bag of money onto the desert sand. “Can you open the ground bridge NOW?!” 

A giant spinning light disk appeared, growing before the robot. He cheered, jumped into the air and then….and then the gears started flipping and turning into the air...and turning into a car! Not just any car, Knockout’s car!

The car drove off into the circle of light, and disappeared, the circle disappearing not long after him. 

Marcus waited until he was sure it wasn’t coming back before running up, grabbing the bag of money left behind.

Only when he was halfway home did he realize he should have gotten a damn photo of the robot. 

 

“It’s like this weird...magic...robot….Thing! I’m telling you!” Marcus was screaming out the next week, “Some weird military experiment or something!” 

The other gathered drivers just stared at him, some sympathetically, some just pitying. “A robot.” The coordinator said, “Really?”

“Look, I know it sounds crazy,” Marcus said, “But it’s! It’s cheating! That’s how it always wins! The feds probably sent it in to take all our money and wreck our cars!”

Some of the drivers couldn’t hold it in anymore, and started laughing. “Dude just ‘cause your crappy car was wiped out doesn’t make it a government conspiracy.”

“You’re not listening to me, I know what I--” he stopped as a new car drove up, none other than knockout. “There! There it is! The robot!”

The car turned off in front of him, “What’s he talking about?” a voice from the car said.

“Marcus has been spending a little too much time with the fumes, we think.” One of the other drivers said. 

“No, wait,” he said, “I can prove it! Step out of the car!”

“Oh geez, is this about that fight again? Look, pipsqueak, It’s just not worth it.”

“I don’t want to fight,” Marcus said, “Just step out.” 

“I don’t have to do what you tell me,” the driver said. Or lack of driver, as Marcus suspected.

“You don’t have to,” Marcus asked, or you can’t?” Knockout didn’t answer, “You see? There is no driver! The whole car is a robot! Probably being controlled by some government agent from a secure location or something!” 

There was silence as everyone stared at the car. Slowly, the black tinted window from the driver’s seat rolled down, and the driver, dressed in black with a helmet on, leaned out the window. “Is this enough? Or do you need me to do a handstand?”

The gathered drivers all laughed at him. “No,” Marcus said, “it’s a trick or something!”

“Get outta the way, puny,” Knockout said, “some of us like to actually WIN races.” The car pulled up to the starting line along with everyone else.

 

Marcus wasn’t fooled. He knew what he saw, and this time he’d get proof. He hid out in the rocks where Knockout had disappeared behind before, waiting, just waiting for him to come through again and change.

Just as planned, the red sports vehicle pulled up. It drove slowly through the desert sand. Marcus hid, getting his phone camera ready.

The car was just driving though, almost aimlessly. Marcus tried to follow it, weaving his way through rocks so as to not let it leave his sight. Then, it turned a corner. Marcus rushed forward, not willing to lose it. 

When he turned the corner, though, there was no sign of any car, nor a robot. He leaned in, searching the desert for where it might have gone, straying slightly from his hiding spot.

“Hey,” a voice said behind him. 

He scrambled back, falling flat on his butt as he looked up at the red and silver robot towering over him, and smirking. 

Thinking quickly through his fear, Marcus whipped out his phone and snapped a picture. “Ha! Got it! I got you, I--”

The robot reached forward with two fingers and easily plucked the phone out of his hands. With a squeeze, the phone sparked, parts scattering in the sand. “One down,” He said, “One to go.”

Before Marcus knew it, he was being dragged off the ground, his entire torso and legs encapsulated in just one of the robot’s hands. “Wait! Wait no, no, don’t kill me, please! Stop! Stop!”

“Geez, are all humans as whiny as you?” The robot said, “Why the ‘bots like them, I’ll never understand.”

“Please!” Marcus shouted, banging his fists on the robot’s fingers as he felt the pressure on his organs, “I’ll give you anything! Anything you want, please!”

“Ha!” The robot laughed, “What could a HUMAN give me that I could ever want.” 

Marcus quickly went through his list of assets. He didn’t have much money, and it didn’t seem the robot had any care for it anyway. He doubted his yugioh card collection would have much value to the robot either. 

“My step-dad owns a carwash!” he said, thinking quickly, “I work there! I could give you free washings whenever you want!”

The pressure eased for just a moment, long enough for Marcus to look up at the robot’s eyes through his tears (oh, hey, he was crying.)

“How good of a carwash?” the robot asked.

 

“Oh yeah, oh that’s the spot. A little higher...higher…yeaaaaaahhh,” Knockout muttered.

The robots name was in fact Knockout, as he told Marcus. It seemed that Marcus had found the one thing that would save his own life, even if it was weird. He supposed his step-dad turned out to be useful for something at least. 

“Up the water pressure, come on. Just a little just a--ohhhh yeaaahhhh,” Knockout said, settling a little further onto his own frame. Marcus wondered if weird robots could be sexually aroused. Nope, nope too weird. He shook his head and continued washing the car.

“So…” Marcus said, Turning off the hose to start on the polish, “You’re not a weird military experiment are you?”

“Ha!” Knockout said, leaning into the polish brush, “I almost forgot about your insane theories. Nah, I’m a transformer, from the planet cybertron.”

Marcus paused for only a moment. “You’re an alien?” 

“YOU’RE the alien.” Knockout protested.

“Uh, no,” Marcus said, taking care of a scratch on the finish, “You’re on my planet. That makes you the alien.”

“You don’t OWN the planet.” Knockout grumped, “Ugh, Humans are so annoying.”

“Hey, don’t insult the guy who’s this close to your grill,” Marcus said. “So, if you’re an alien, why do you race in these things?” 

“Why do you?” Knockout asked.

“You sound like my mom,” Marcus said. “I dunno. Feeling of freedom on the open road. The power of controlling a 2 ton mecha.” He shrugged, getting the last of the dirt smudges off the grill, “Truth be told, it’s an easy way to get away from my step-dad for a bit.”

“Same for me.” Knockout said, “Well, I don’t have a ‘dad’ step or otherwise. But my boss is a pain in the lug nuts.”

Marcus stood, using his rag to wipe a bit of sweat off himself. “There are more of you here?”

“Oh yeah. Both Decepticons and Autobots.” 

Marcus threw the old rag in the dirty pile and took out the hose again to rinse off the polish. “I have no idea what either of those words mean.”

“Two sides of the war that ruined cybertron,” Knockout didn’t have a face to read, but Marcus could have sworn he heard just a trace of sadness in his voice, “Now we just fight over Energon. It’s like our food or blood or whatever. Keeps us going.”

“Then...which one are you?” 

“Decepticon,” Knockout said, rolling back to show the logo on his steering wheel. 

Marcus snorted, “Great name. Not ominous at all.”

“Hey, airbag,” Knockout transformed a hand out of his undercarriage and flicked Marcus on the head, hard enough to knock him back on his butt, the water getting everywhere, “stop judging and get back to washing.” Marcus did as instructed, using his brain and following the directions of the giant alien robot. “There’s not really a difference between the two, not really.” He said, “I mean, Optimus Prime and Megatron would like us to think there is. They’re the leaders. But really we all want the same thing.”

“The energon.”

“You catch up quick,” Knockout said, “And, there’s not enough to share. So we fight.”

Marcus thought. “You really do sound like my mom,” Marcus said, “My brother went to go sign up for the army. Had a lot of ideas about defending justice, doing the right thing, yadda yadda yadda. My mom told him it didn’t make any difference, it was just...people fighting over things and killing each other because their governments told them too. A big old chess game, where the ones making all the decisions are the ones who never risk themselves.” Marcus sighed, “She was just afraid. She didn’t want him to get hurt. Then she went and got sick and died first.”

Knockout was quiet for a couple minutes. “I hope you’re not expecting me to say ‘I’m sorry’ or whatever.” He said, finally. “I mean, first off I barely even understand your weird little human families. Second, I’m literally an alien warlord, so--hey!” Marcus splashed him with the hose. “I can still kill you, human!” 

Marcus chuckled. “You could,” Marcus said, getting up, “But then, you couldn’t stop this email I have queued up.” He went to his laptop and pressed a few buttons.

Behind him, Knockout transformed into his robot form, towering over him. “What is that?”

“An email I have, with the recording of this whole conversation along with some pictures, ready to go to every major news organization in the area,” He said. Knockout lifted his fist, “Ah, ah, ah. I said it’s on a queue, remember? If I don’t put in a code that only I know every 24 hours, it goes out. So I wouldn’t go killing anyone if I were you.”

Knockout bent over, glaring at him. Marcus held his ground. “It’ll be dismissed as fake news.”

“Maybe,” Marcus said, “But I bet your boss, the pain in the lugnuts, won’t be too happy about it. I wonder what he’ll do to you…”

The flash of fear on Knockout’s face was all Marcus needed. “What do you want?” He said, glaring at him. 

“It’s easy,” Marcus said, “I just want your winnings at the end of your races. You don’t need them anyhow, do you?”

Knockout squinted, weighing his options. “And you’ll still give me the washings after my races?”

“Sure,” He agreed. The winnings would more than cover for it. “And I’ll keep your secret. Won’t tell a soul.” He put his hand up like he was swearing before a judge.

Knockout grumbled. “This is blackmail,” He said. Then, he surprised Marcus by breaking into a smile, “Not bad, kid. Not bad. Maybe humans are alright after all.” He actually laughed, which made Marcus breath a sigh of relief. “But one wrong move-” Knockout put a finger on top of Marcus’ head. “Squish.”

Marcus gulped. “Got it.”

Knockout stood up and transformed. “See you later, airbag!” and drove off. 

 

“Whoa, Marcus,” Devin said, as he got out of the car, “You’re driving Knockout’s car now?” 

“Yep,” Marcus said, patting the car, “Won it off him in a bet.” 

“Damn!” another driver said, coming up to admire the car, “What kind of bet?!” 

“Race for pink slips,” Marcus said, proudly, “I crushed him, just absolutely--” The door to the car banged open, knocking Marcus into the sand. “Uh...anyway,” he said, wiping himself off and ignoring the sound of girls laughing a few cars over, “Point is, now that the best driver is with the fastest car, we’re going to be unstoppable!”

“Can’t wait to see it!” Devin said, “Good luck,” He made his way to his own car.

Marcus slid into the open seat, cracking his neck as he prepared to get down to business. Hands on the steering wheel, he tried to push the pedal and go forward. 

Emphasis on tried. 

“Hey, what gives?” He demanded of his own car.

“Nice try, airbag,” Knockout said, the dashboard lighting up, “I’ll be the one racing here today.”

“What? Come on!” Marcus said, trying to force the wheel to move to his will, “I’m the driver here!”

“Would you want someone sitting inside YOU and controlling your every movement?” Knockout said, “Yeah, I thought not. Be lucky I let you catch a ride at all.”

Knockout sped forward, getting into gear like he always did and zooming off for the finish line. Marcus leaned back, randomly kicking until the race was over.

 

“I don’t see what your problem is,” Knockout said when they returned to the car wash, “I got you the paper you humans like so much. That was the deal.”

“Yeah,” Marcus said, “But I wanted to actually RACE in these things.” When he got out he did not go to the washing station where Knockout waited for him, but over to the garage area where he kept his own car, the one Knockout had broken down.

“Hey!” Knockout said, transforming into his robot form, “What do you think you’re doing? You come back here, my finish needs a polish!”

“In a minute!” Marcus grumbled back at him, “I need to blow off some steam.”

“I don’t think so,” Knockout said, coming to tower over him, “If you remember, the deal was, you clean me, I don’t squish you into jelly.”

“You do, and your picture gets broadcast,” Marcus grumbled, not looking up from where he ducked under the car’s hood, “So you gotta weigh your options, upsetting your boss, or just sitting for like a few minutes while I work on this.”

Knockout scoffed, but eventually, Marcus heard the thumps and gears as he sat down, resting on the garage wall. “What’s the point of fixing that old beat up thing anyway?” Knockout said, “You’re the luckiest human in the world, paired up with the best car on the whole planet. Why do you need that one?”

“Because,” Marcus said, “I actually want to race cars MYSELF. Not get driven around like some little Miss Daisy.”

“Isn’t a daisy a food or something?” Knockout asked. Marcus rolled his eyes, “Whatever, that thing is a piece of junk. I barely hit it and it went down like stone.”

“You’re an alien warrior!” Marcus exclaimed, defensive, “I built this with parts mostly from the impound lot. It was meant to race, not withstand robot wars.” 

Knockout slumped, “Well maybe it should be.” They sat in silence for several moments, Knockout just watching him. “Your carburetor’s out of alignment.”

“What?” Marcus said, backing up to look at the engine, “It’s fine, it’s the best I can do since SOMEONE crushed the front end.

“It’s gonna break down,” Knockout said, “Pretty quickly. Here, let me.”

He reached over, under the hood. “Hey!” Marcus said, trying ineffectively to slap his metal fingers out of the way. All it did was hurt his hand. “Get your fat fingers out of my engine, you’re going to break something!” 

“I’m a medic for alien robots, remember?” Knockout said, carefully using just two fingers to adjust the engine, having it screech against the metal frame. “That means I am literally the best mechanic your planet has ever seen. Take the favor.”

Marcus examined Knockouts work. Despite the horrific noises, the carburetor was in fact aligned perfectly now. “Hey, thanks.” Marcus said, checking to make sure it stayed in place. 

Knockout shrugged. “Whatever gets me my wash faster.”

Marcus chuckled and closed the hood, already feeling better despite the little progress. “Alright, come on. Get in your disguise.”

Without needing any more prompting, Knockout transformed and raced over to the washing station. Marcus laughed when he got the hose ready. “Baby Blue’s not JUST for racing, by the way,” he said, nodding over to his car, “Soon, she’ll be fully prepped, and I’ll turn 18, pack her up and get out of here. WAY out.”

“Huh,” Knockout said as the initial rinse washed over him, “Where are you going to go.”

“Dunno,” Marcus said, “Probably as far as I can get before I run out of gas. See where that takes me.”

“With that thing, that’ll strand you in the middle of the desert.”

Marcus splashed his front window in irritation. “It’s my ticket out of here. I’ll get a job somewhere. Do whatever it takes, whatever I need to. I just need to get out of here.”

“You got people after you or something?” Knockout asked, “What do they call them here...uh, caps?” 

Marcus chuckled, “Cops.” he said, “And no, not in particular, though they’re not especially fond of the black kid who builds his own cars, especially if it involved some uh, minor trespassing.” he shrugged, “It’s not thike they were going to be USING those car parts.” 

“What’re you running from, then?” He asked. 

Marcus grew quiet, moving to scrub off Knockout’s dirt. “You know how your boss is kinda…” He didn’t know the words to say that would best describe his feelings toward his step-dad. 

Luckily, Knockout understood. “The worst?”

“Yeah.” Marcus said, “Well, mine’s like that too. Except he’s also responsible for raising me and caring for me and stuff.”

“Huh,” Knockout said, “Have you thought about sucking up to him in an effort to seem invaluable, and thus invulnerable?”

Marcus snorted, “No,” he said, “Bit too late for that. All he ever sees me as is some dumb kid.” He sighed, “I mean, it was whatever when my mom and brother were around. But Shane left, and my mom…” He didn’t need to tell Knockout. Knockout knew. He felt the tears in his eyes but he blinked them away easily. 

“I get it.” Knockout said. Marcus scoffed. “What? I’m a warrior, remember? A soldier. I’ve lost plenty of friends, who either left or died.” Marcus heard the sorrow in his voice. “Sometimes not even ‘cause of Autobots. I had a...an assistant Breakdown. Humans got to him.” 

“Geez,” Marcus said, “No wonder you don’t trust humans.”

“You’re not too bad,” He said, “You can manage my finish almost as well as him.” Marcus smirked, “Besides, I got back at the one who hurt him. Eventually.”

“Good.” Marcus said. His mother may have raised him that vengeance was never the way to go, but she wasn’t around anymore.

“Your boss is human too, right?” Knockout said, “You want me to make HIM into Jelly?”

Marcus snorted, “Nah, I don’t want to KILL him,” He said. “Besides, he dies before I’m 18, I get turned over to the state.” 

“You humans are too complicated,” Knockout said.

Marcus sighed, “You can say that again.”

 

They fell into a steady routine with their racing. They met at a spot close to where the race would begin, and go up together. With the money that Knockout won from the betting, Marcus was able to pay for his new parts rather than having to scavenge them from dumps and impound lots, AND he was able to start saving up some more on his own. He even got himself a new phone to replace the one Knockout crushed. 

This created a new problem, he wasn’t expecting. “What’s this?” His Step-Dad, Ron, asked him as he was sitting by himself one day. He snatched the phone out of his hand. 

“Hey!” Marcus said, trying to grab it back, but Ron kept it out of his reach, “Give it back, it’s mine!”

“I didn’t buy this for you,” Ron said, “Where’d you get it?”

“I bought it,” Marcus said, “With my own money.”

“I don’t think so,” Ron said, “I pay you, ain’t no way you can afford this.”

“I’ve been saving up!” Marcus said, making another grab for his phone. Ron pushed him back. “Ever since my old one broke, I--”

“You BROKE IT?!” Ron growled, face set in anger.

“I didn’t, it just...someone else broke it.” He wasn’t about to explain about Knockout to anyone, ESPECIALLY not Ron.

“Don’t you lie to me, boy.” Ron said, “I trusted you with it, I expect you to take care of your things. You know how much I spent on that?”

“That’s why I replaced it myself.” Marcus protested, “I didn’t want to bother you so I--”

Ron grabbed Marcus and put him in a headlock. “Stop lying!” he said, “Now I know you don’t have the money to replace this yourself. You steal it?” 

“No!” Marcus protested. He felt a sting as Ron punished him for the ‘lie.’

“You steal money from me to buy it?!”

“No! I didn’t! I swear I didn’t!” 

Another sting. Marcus flinched. “Stop lying boy!”

“I’m not! I’m not, I--”

No matter what else he said, the stings kept coming. 

 

Knockout was doing doughnuts in their agreed meeting spot by the time Marcus arrived. “What took you so long?!” He demanded, “We nearly missed the race! Hurry up!”

Marcus gingerly slid into the drover seat. “Just go.”

“Hey, what’s going on?” Knockout said, driving on. The mirror adjusted to focus on Marcus’ face. “You’re damaged.”

“The human term is ‘hurt.’” Marcus said, touching his black eye to try and cover it, but he only made himself flinch. “And I’m fine.” 

“Do you need a human medic?” Knockout asked, “I could drive you to one.”

“No.” Marcus insisted, “Let’s just get the winnings from this race, ok? I could use the money. I need another phone.”

“How many phones do humans need?” Knockout asked, pulling up to the starting line.

Marcus sighed, “Just. Win the race. Please.”

 

That night, Marcus woke up to a loud ‘thump’ outside his house. It was probably a car backfiring, he thought, but then the thump came again. 

It was followed by a blinding light from outside his window. Marcus jumped up, wiping sleep out of his eyes, to look and see what it was.

Outside his blinds was Knockout in his robot form, shining bright lights at the house. Marcus squinted through them, trying to figure out what Knockout was even doing.

Knockout winked at him, then moved to stand by the other window--Ron’s window.

He broke the window with just a finger, and Marcus heard Ron scream. Knockout reached his hand inside, grabbing onto something and pulling out Ron’s boxer-clad form. 

“You Ronald Wilcox have been chosen,” Knockout said in a low voice. Ron screamed his head off, trying to get loose. “You will be taken to our leader, and dissected to discover the secrets of your kind.”

Ron’s screaming might have come from a little girl. Marcus smirked, watching the interaction play out. Knockout loosened his grip just enough for Ron to try and climb out, but then Knockout grabbed him by the leg, holding him aloft. 

“You are unworthy of our experiments, or this planet,” Knockout said, “But be warned, if you should do anything to get our attention again, we will not be so forgiving.”

Knockout shoved Ron back in his room with just a slight toss. He gave Marcus a ‘thumbs up,’ which Marcus gratefully returned before running off into Ron’s room.

“What happened?” He asked, trying to seem concerned and confused, “Whoa, what’d you do to the window?!”

“I didn--” Ron said, still breathing heavily and alternating between whimpers and screams of terror. “It was--big robot--HUGE--it took me--it was saying--it grabbed me, tried to--wanted to dissect me--it was this big thing, it-it-it--”

“Whoa, there,” Marcus said, “It was probably just some kid who broke the window from the outside for fun, and you were having a nightmare. It wasn’t real.” 

“It WAS!” Ron insisted, still breathing heavily, “It was right there it was--It was practically the size of the house! An alien robot! It had me in it’s hands and it grabbed my leg and it--”

“Well, where is it now?” Marcus asked.

“Wh-What?”

“The ‘Giant Robot.’” He said, “Where’d it go, if it was right here?”

Ron rushed over to the broken window trying to dodge the shards of glass. He looked out, one way, then the other, up and down the street. All he saw was a car, a simple, regular car, speeding off in the distance. “But it was...I mean it was right...it broke the window!”

“Sure it did, Ron,” Marcus said, hiding his smirk, “Now go to bed and stop lying. The cops are going to come if you keep screaming your head off like that.”  
Marcus had to get out of there as quickly as he could, leaving Ron behind still sputtering. He shut the door and shoved a pillow in his mouth to muffle his laughing. 

 

From then on, it felt like he and Knockout were becoming...something like friends. Knockout would help Marcus work on baby blue after his washing, saying he was trying to delay heading back to his boss. Sometimes Marcus would put on music or movies he liked while they worked, that Knockout enjoyed. Or well, he had Opinions on it. These opinions ranged from ‘play this song 50 times in a row’ all the way down to ‘If I see you take out that disk again, I will smash it and your entire entertainment system.’

Soon, Baby Blue was ready to be taken on the road, and he and Knockout had some races between them. Sure, Knockout pretty much always won, but it was still fun, and Marcus had some of his own tricks up his sleeve. 

Those few months were the best Marcus had ever since his brother left. Back when it was the boys and their mom. Knockout was nothing like his brother, more like the devil that sits on your shoulder and tries to get you to do the worst things. But it was fun, and he managed to avoid Ron, and just...live.

Which is why it was such a shock when it was Knockout who didn’t come to their arranged meeting for a race. 

Marcus waited the whole time, up until the race had started, then halfway through, until finally it finished, and still there were no signs of the alien robot. 

It happened at the next time they were supposed to race, too. Marcus just took Baby Blue down, but she wasn’t nearly as powerful a car. He lost.

He was beginning to wonder if Knockout wasn’t coming back. First he was worried. Maybe the con had been destroyed. Or maybe Megatron had forbid him from coming back to Earth. 

Then he started to get angry. How dare Knockout just...just ABANDON him without a word. Gave no sign as to where he was, or if he’d see him again. He hadn’t even said goodbye.

Marcus gathered up his money. His 18th birthday was coming up and it was time to carry out his plan. He was getting out of here. Out of the stupid town with his stupid school and stupid job with his stupid step-dad. And he didn’t need stupid Knockout anymore. He could do this on his own.

It was over a month after their last race when he saw Knockout again. There was a tapping on his window that woke him up. He thought it was some stupid kids throwing stuff again, but when he peeked through his eyelids, he saw Knockouts face hovering there. 

Marcus jumped up, opening the window and leaning out. “What are you doing here? Where the hell have you been?” He whisper-shouted

“It’s been complicated,” Knockout said back, “There’ve been a lot more fights, and these beast things...and Megatron and Optimus have been trying to re-make Cybertron and...ugh, it’s a whole thing, but, uh…”

If Marcus didn’t know any better, he’d say Knockout looked nervous. “What is it?”

“We had to fight some human military,” Knockout said, “They cleared out the civilians, and the humans were fighting alongside the autobots, and, uh,” Knockout’s chest opened up. “This guy came after me in a helicopter.” 

Marcus’s eyes went wide as dinner plates as his brother Shane fell out of the compartment. Knockout caught him, cradling the man in his hands. “Jesus Christ!” Marcus said, stepping out of the way as Knockout tried to push Shane in through the window, “You killed my brother?!”

“I didn’t kill him!” Knockout said, “He’s just...knocked out. Heheh, get it cause I’m--”

“Put him on the bed, damn!” Marcus said, trying to push the bed closer. Knockout rested Shane on it, and he fell limp. He looked pretty bruised up. “What happened?” 

“Well, like I said, he started SHOOTING at me, wrecked my damn finish by the way, so I knocked his helicopter down and--stop glaring at me, it’s war. Anyway, I recognized him from your pictures or whatever so I let him live. But I didn’t want Megatron to KNOW I’d let him live, so I put him in here.” He leaned in so his face was practically in the window. “Can you fix him?” 

“I’m a delinquent race car driver, not a doctor!” Marcus said, rubbing his hands through his hair, “He needs a hospital. Geez, but my step-dad will kill me if I call an ambulance, those things cost money….and then I’d have to explain why and--”

“It’s fine,” Knockout said, “Here, give him back, I’ll drive you guys.” 

Knockout held out his hand. Sighing with a lack of alternatives, Marcus helped load Shane onto his palm, and then stepped onto it himself. Metal flashed around him and he covered his head. Next thing he knew, he was sitting in the driver’s seat of Knockout’s car form. “NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!” He shouted. 

 

They got to the hospital fast enough. Marcus lied and said Shane had been in a car crash. He managed to get some insurance information down, until finally Shane was pulled away in a gurney behind double doors, and Marcus was left in the quiet silence. 

He went outside to get some air. He was surprised to find Knockout still sitting there. “Thought you’d be long gone by now.”

“How’s he doing?” the car asked. 

Marcus settled himself on Knockout’s hood. “He’ll live. Pretty badly concussed, and got some broken ribs, but...he’ll live.”

Knockout rumbled. “Well, that’s good.”

“It’s Lucky,” Marcus said, sharply, “If he’d been left like that too long....”

“Hey, I saved him, didn’t I?” Knockout protested. 

“You don’t get to say you saved him, when YOU were the one to HIT him.”

“I told you, it’s war.” Knockout said. “I don’t want to hurt humans! I don’t really care most of the time, but honestly, I’d rather not be on your planet at all. I want to go HOME, Marcus, to Cybertron. This war wasn’t supposed to leave there. But I chose a side, because I thought that side would WIN, and the humans picked the Other side. No one won. We all lost, everything.”

Marcus sighed, laying back. He understood things weren’t as simple as he wanted them to be. He felt what Knockout was saying. He had never lost his home planet before, but his mom had at one point been his world. His brother had. He’d lost one permanently, and the other…

“Is it really possible?” Knockout asked, “To bring Cybertron back?”

Knockout was silent a moment. “Maybe,” he finally said. “There are these key things and...and an old Prime guy...eh, it’s a lot of mumbo jumbo to me. But if the Autobots get there first, re-make the world for them….no way will I be allowed. I’ve done too much. They’ll never trust me, and they shouldn’t.”

Marcus leaned back. “And if the Decepticons get it?”

“Then Megatron will use his power to conquer as much of the cosmos as he can get.” Knockout said, “Probably starting here. And if I’m very very lucky, I can keep living under his thumb for the rest of my days.”

“Sounds like another lose-lose,” Marcus said. Knockout just grumbled low in his motor. “Do they have racing on cybertron?”

“Sometimes,” Knockout said, “Not with the same kind of Earth vehicles. Honestly they don’t do as much transforming out there. Weird, right?”

“I mean, I guess you don’t need a disguise,” Marcus said, “Shame, though.”

“Yeah,” He said, with a sigh from his exhaust pipe. 

 

He stayed with Knockout until Knockout was called back to the decepticons. “Don’t die,” Marcus said before the car drove away. 

Knockout scoffed, “That’s my constant goal.”

Marcus laughed, but wasn’t sure how much he should really laugh. It sounded like there was some crazy things happening with the Transformers. In one sense, he wanted no part of it. But still, he couldn’t help feeling like this was the last time he’d see Knockout. 

Marcus didn’t sleep and no longer had a direct route home, so went back into the hospital to see if there were any updates on Shane. 

It turns out there were! He was awake! And about to be--

“What do you mean you’re being transferred?” Marcus demanded of his brother, who lay on the bed in a hospital gown. 

“Im supposed to be at a military hospital,” Shane answered, “Miles from here. I don’t even know how I got here.” 

Marcus slumped, defeated, “But you just got here.”

“Yeah, but it’s...complicated.” he said.

“Can’t you just stay until you’ve recovered?” Marcus asked, “You could come home for a bit, rest in your own house. I’ll take care of you.”

He wanted Shane to smile, no matter how weakly. He wanted him to tease him like he used to when they were younger. But Shane didn’t, just looked to the door to make sure they weren’t interrupted, and beckoned Marcus closer. “The nurses say you were the one to admit me,” he said. Marcus swallowed, guilty, “Did you see...I mean, do you know…”

“You mean about the uh….” He didn’t want to say anything directly. He mimed being a transformer.

Shane frowned just slightly, “I’d heard a couple of kids were companions of the autobots,” he said, “I never imagined you were one of them.” 

“I’m not!” Marcus protested without thinking. Shane raised an eyebrow. “I mean...I don’t really hang with the Autobots, I’ve never even seen them. I’ve only ever seen one transformer.”

Shane’s frown deepened, “But if it wasn’t an autobot…” his eyes then went wide, “The Cons? Marcus do you know how dangerous they are?!” 

“Yeah, I’ve heard, big war over Energon, humans aligned with the autobots, blah blah blah,” Marcus said, “Look, I’m not involved with any of that war stuff or whatever, ok? I just know one of them.”

“Marcus,” Shane said, shaking, “They are the biggest threat to humanity the world has ever seen. Megatron has tried to take over the world MULTIPLE times. They care for nothing and no one other than their personal gain.”

“They want to protect themselves,” Marcus argued, “Just like the autobots or Anyone else! They’re the same, they--”

“They’ve captured and tried to kill CHILDREN, Marcus,” Shane said, “If it wasn’t for Optimus Prime…”

“Look, they don’t even know about me,” Marcus said, “The one I talk to, he’s just as afraid of starscream as anyone. He’s just looking out for himself.”

“If he wants to do that, he should join the autobots,” Shane said. 

Marcus clutched his head, “Things aren’t that black and white! God, you’re as annoying as ever.”

“Which con is it?” Shane demanded, “Starscream? Breakdown? Knockout?”

“I’m not telling you,” Marcus said, “You’ll just tell your army buddies and do something stupid.”

“Its my job,” Shane said, “To protect humanity, I can’t believe you’d side against your own SPECIES--”

“I’m not picking a side!” Marcus said, throwing up his hands, “It’s not about that at all! And you should be grateful, if it wasn’t for that decepticon, you’d be dead.” 

“Oh, so you found the one CARING decepticon,” Shane said, “I can’t believe you’re so naive.” 

“You don’t get to lecture me!” Marcus said, “You don’t get to come back, and lecture me about MY life when you’ve been gone, and left me with freaking RON. You don’t get a say in ANYTHING I do, especially if you’re just going to leave again!” 

“You’re being immature,” Shane said.

“Of course I am!” Marcus argued back, “I’m a KID! I’m supposed to be immature! I’m supposed to only be caring about my school and a summer job and shit. But no, I have to care for MYSELF because everyone leaves me behind! Because I’m not important enough, I guess!” 

Shane’s face softened, “It’s not about that,” Shane said, “Life is just...it’s complicated.”

“I know that!” he said, “I know that better than anyone. I’ve grown up, Shane.” he said, “Don’t bother coming back. I’ll handle myself from now on.”

Marcus turned his back on him. “Hey, wait, Marcus!” Shane called, “MARCUS!” 

Marcus didn’t look back. 

 

“Happy Birthday to me,” Marcus said, closing the hood on his car.

He was 18. He got his high school diploma, not that anyone had shown up for it. He collected all the money he got from Knockout’s wins and packed all the belongings he cared about into his trunk. 

He was ready to leave. 

He made a last pitstop over at his and Knockout’s meeting place. He didn’t have much hope that the transformer would be there, but he it was a hope nonetheless. 

He waited there only 5 minutes before deciding this was stupid, and started driving to the next town over. 

He’d been on the road for less than an hour before he recognized the car following him, a red and silver sports car. He smirked as the car pulled up, blackout windows stopping him from seeing the driver. Or lack of driver, as the case may be. He revved his engines, speeding up just slightly. The car matched him.

Soon they were racing down the speedway. They had no goal, so no way to tell who was winning, until suddenly, Marcus took a turn, speeding off in a different direction and gaining a strong lead. 

He waited for the robot at an abandoned roadstop. It was too early for anyone to be working there, only a set of portapotties available. 

Knockout transformed as he got close, Marcus sitting on his hood, refilling the gas on Baby Blue. “That wasn’t fair,” He said, “You changed the race, that’s cheating.” 

Marcus laughed, “You’re a DECEPTICON,” he said, “You can’t really blame me for cheating.”

Knockout scoffed. He kneeled down, looking into the car. “So, you’re really doing it.”

“Looks like,” he said. “What about you? Heading back to Cybertron?”

Knockout sighed, “Autobots got it,” he said, “I tried apologizing, but for some reason they didn’t believe me.”

“Could it be that they shouldn’t because you would definitely turn your back on them in a second?”

Knockout shrugged, “Might be a factor.” Marcus scoffed at him. “Hey, It’s not like I’m evil! I’m selfish, there’s a difference.”

Marcus rolled his eyes, thinking back on his last conversation with Shane. Shane had tried to call him since, but now it was Marcus’ turn to ignore him. “Did you really nearly kill kids?”

“The humans?” Knockout said, sitting beside Baby Blue, “May have threatened them a bit. The autobots were GOING to save him, though, so I mean, come on.” Marcus still looked hesitant, “Hey, look,” Knockout said, “I didn’t understand why the ‘bots liked humans until I got a human myself,” Marcus gave him a look at the implication Knockout ‘Got’ him, “And I am a proud selfish bastard, always have been, always will be. I look out for #1. But,” he poked Marcus’ chest, “You make a pretty good #2.”

Marcus snorted, “That doesn’t mean the same thing with humans,” he said, laughing.

“What? What’s it mean?” Knockout asked, confused. Marcus only kept laughing. “Hey, come on, you know what I meant!”

“I do, I do.” Marcus said, finishing his fill-up, “And you know what, I’ll take it.”

Knockout smirked at him, “Good. ‘Cause I demand a re-match.”

Marcus got back in his car while Knockout transformed. They pulled up to the roadstop’s exit. “See you in the next town,” He held up his fingers. 3, 2, 1-

They were off.


End file.
